Should I try to be a doctor?
Discount Medical Scrubs
I'm currently a freshman in college, and I'm an undecided major. I don't know what I want to do with my life..but the thing I keep coming back to is medicine. The thing is, I don't know if I could make it through, or even into, medical school. I'm very smart, but my strong suits are not math and science. I took a lot of college classes in high school, and got almost a full semester of college credit from them. My first semester at college, I got a 3.88 GPA...but I didn't take any math/science classes that semester. I can't even imagine all the chemistry/calculus I'd have to take to get into med school, but I think that I want this badly enough that I could just spend all my time doing extra studying to get through it.
That said, I love medicine. I'm not in it for the money...I genuinely want to help people. I have gone on 2 medical missions to the Dominican Republic with a group that does free eye care and eye surgery for the poor, and I loved every minute of it. The doctors liked me a lot, and requested me specifically out of all the other volunteers my age and older to help them in the OR, where I was basically a scrub tech (which might not sound like much, but it really is a lot of responsibility to give an 18 year old). I thought the surgeries were so interesting, and I saw everything from cataract surgery to strabismus to eye removal (or 'ophthalmic death' as they called it!)
I just don't know... I can see myself as a doctor, and I consider medicine my dream career... I just don't know if I can make the cut. I just have a lot of doubts 
If anyone can help me out, I'd really appreciate it!
Tags: cataract surgery, discount medical scrubs, dominican republic, doubts, dream career, eye removal, eye surgery, free eye care, freshman, gpa, math and science, math science, med school, medical missions, medical school, ophthalmic, science classes, strabismus, surgeries, volunteers
March 24th, 2011 at 11:19 am
You’d better be damned sure it’s what you want. Take my advice: Don’t be in a hurry to decide. Take and extra semester or two of college and ENJOY that time. Take a year off after college and decide. Med school is definitely not easy but you sound smart enough. Math and science are not as important to me as human qualities. Trust me, I would not trust some of my med school classmates to take care of my dog. Also be ready for hundreds of thousands of debt, delayed gratification watching all of your friends start their lives while you study for weeks on end. Not to mention the progressively toxic environment it has become for physicians these days. I am a doctor and love what I do but I would not encourage my kids to do it. My wife is a doctor and regrets it. If you don’t mind having a person’s very life as your responsibility then you are probably cut out for it. If the very thought of it terrifies you then I would recommend another vocation.
March 24th, 2011 at 11:19 am
dont just try be one you wouldnt be the first
March 24th, 2011 at 11:19 am
If it’s your dream, go for it!! trust in yourself if it’s somrthing you like to do!
March 24th, 2011 at 11:19 am
Well yeah, medical school is hard.
But like you said, if you want it bad enough then I know you can do it.
And even if science and math arent your strong points, youll do fine.
Because this is something you want to do so youll do it.
A doctor is a great thing to be and I say GO FOR IT.
March 24th, 2011 at 11:19 am
Hey, you sound like you have a real passion for it and really want to do it. And you’re apparently good at it! (That experience already is excellent stuff to put on your CV)
If you want it enough you’ll work hard enough to cope with the difficult stuff, it’s perfectly possible to work at being even cleverer! And I don’t think there is that much maths in it, certainly not calculus!… may be wrong though.
Good luck!!
March 24th, 2011 at 11:19 am
If you really want to be a doctor, you shouldn’t give up just because you don’t think you’ll make the cut. The question you want to ask yourself, is do you have the determination to do whatever it takes to become a doctor? Med school is really tough and will require a lot of studying on many subjects, not just chemistry and math. If you put forth the effort, you will definitely be able to attain a position in the field that you want.
March 24th, 2011 at 11:19 am
It sounds like medicine is something you really enjoy, and the fact that you’ve made that decision after having some real clinical exposure is a good sign. (Many people "decide" to be a doctor without any actual exposure to what that really means…and some of those people have a rude awakening once they do.)
It seems like you’re off to a great start in college, and it’s certainly not too late to make the switch. In terms of the math/science thing, my answer for you is mixed. There is a lot of science to medicine, but the actual practice of clinical medicine is a different type of science than the basic science you’re exposed to in college and early medical school. Science is the basis of medicine and that never goes away, but it’s a career in which you apply and practice "real-world" science….which is very different from the world of research and theoretical science. So it’s not hours of balancing chemical equations or drawing molecules or lab projects.
In terms of the courses you take in college, medicine is the closest in terms of "feel" to biology, so if you enjoy those types of courses you’ll probably be fine. (But do know that courses like chemistry and physics are actually very important for medicine….but if you don’t absolutely love doing them it’s not a sign that medicine is right for you. I enjoyed most of my premed courses but absolutely DESPISED general chemistry.)
That said, there are quite a few years of basic science ahead of you. Even the first two years of medical school are medical basic science, but it’s MUCH more interesting than the premed courses (and you can do it/understand it because you have the foundation of the basic science of the premed classes). In terms of whether or not you can "do" it, the premed classes will help you figure it out. If you can do well in those classes and the MCAT (the med school entrance exam which tests biology, chemistry, physics and verbal reasoning), then you’ll be fine….and if you find that you can’t handle those classes you’ll be able to change career paths long before med school.
You do use a fair amount of math, but it’s not calculus-level (and these days only a handful of medical schools require calculus as a prerequisite). It’s more statistics and algebraic math, so if you can handle that you’ll be fine.
If you have the passion for medicine and the willingness to work hard and study, chances are you’ll rise to the challenge and accomplish your goals. Good luck!
March 24th, 2011 at 11:19 am
YOU CAN BE ANYTHING YOU WANT..UR ON UR WAY GREAT LUCK TO YOU!!!!!!!!!!